TSA Supervisor Arrested For Having Sex With Minors in Dominican Republic

Posted by Rachel Pulaski on Sunday, May 11, 2014, 10:30 PM

Vernon Lythcott (picture from nydailynews.com)

Vernon Lythcott, 48, is a New York TSA screening supervisor charged with having illicit sex with a minor in a foreign country. Lythcott is accused of flying to the Dominican Republic and paying two 15 year old girls to have sex with him on a beach.

The case is most likely part of a probe into sexual exploitation of children in foreign countries.

Lythcott, 48, of Brooklyn, paid two 15-year-old girls to have sex with him for $80, according to a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

It is illegal for U.S. citizens to have sex with someone under the age of 16 or a prostitute under the age of 18 anywhere in the world.

A Homeland Security agent stationed in the Dominican Republic was tipped off about an American tourist engaging in sex with the teens and interviewed both victims, special agent Karine Stewart stated in the complaint.

“The victims also reported that during the course of that night they had used Vernon Lythcott’s cellular telephone to check their Facebook accounts and had also ‘friended’ Lythcott on Facebook,” Stewart stated.

“Lythcott also used an application on his phone to translate sexual instructions from English to Spanish.”

Lythcott, who supervises security screeners at Kennedy Airport, allegedly admitted to the agents that he had sex for money with the girls but thought they were 16 – which is still illegal. He also acknowledged that someone had procured women for him to have sex with on about 45 trips and they were always older than 18.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyler Smith said in court that Lythcott was carrying $2,470 in U.S. currency and $750 in Dominican pesos when he was arrested.

The TSA suspended him without pay and will begin the process of terminating Lythcott from his $59,000-a-year job.

Magistrate Steven Gold released the alleged pervert on $250,000 bail and ordered him to steer clear of locations where children congregate, like toys stores, schoolyards, fast food restaurants and the children’s section of a library.